Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 0400 - Environment and Conservation
Subtitle 0400-40 - Water Resources (WPC)
Chapter 0400-40-05 - Individual National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits
Section 0400-40-05-.02 - DEFINITIONS

(1) "Act" or "TWQCA" means the Water Quality Control Act of 1977, T.C.A. Title 69, Chapter 3, Part 1.

(2) "Administrator" means the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or an authorized representative.

(3) "Agricultural stormwater discharge" means a precipitation-related discharge of manure, litter or process wastewater from land areas under the control of an AFO where the manure, litter, or process wastewater has been applied in accordance with site-specific nutrient management practices that ensure appropriate agricultural utilization of the nutrients in the manure, litter, or process wastewater, as specified in parts (10)(a)7. through 10. of Rule 0400-40-05-.14.

(4) "Ammonia (as N)" means ammonia reported as nitrogen.

(5) "Animal Feeding Operation" or "AFO" means a facility that (1) stables, confines, and feeds or maintains animals (other than aquatic animals) for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period, and (2) does not sustain crops, vegetation, forage growth, or post-harvest residues in the normal growing season over any portion of the facility. Two or more AFOs under common ownership are considered to be a single AFO for the purposes of determining the number of animals at an operation, if they adjoin each other or if they use a common area or system for the disposal of wastes.

(6) "AFO overflow" means the discharge of manure or process wastewater resulting from the filling of wastewater or manure storage structures beyond the point at which no more manure, process wastewater, or stormwater can be contained by the structure.

(7) "AFO production area" includes the animal confinement area, the manure storage area, the raw materials storage area, and the waste containment areas.

(8) "Animal Waste Management System" means any system used for the collection, storage, treatment, handling, transport, distribution, land application, or disposal of agricultural wastes, animal waste/wastewater, waste product, and dead animals generated by an AFO that meets or exceeds USDA-NRCS technical standards and guidelines.

(9) "Area-wide waste treatment management plan" means a plan that has been approved by the administrator pursuant to § 208 (33 U.S.C. § 1288) of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Public Law 92-500.

(10) "BATEA" or "BAT" means the best available technology economically achievable as defined by EPA regulations. Effluent limitations established by this designation shall be effective in accordance with the requirements of Section 301(b)(2)(A), Federal Water Pollution Control Act, PL 92-500.

(11) "Biological monitoring" means the determination of the effects on aquatic life, including accumulation of pollutants in tissue, in receiving waters due to the discharge of pollutants (a) by techniques and procedures, including sampling of organisms representative of appropriate levels of the food chain appropriate to the volume and the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the effluent, and (b) at appropriate frequencies and locations.

(12) "BOD5" means 5-day biochemical oxygen demand.

(13) "BPTCA" means the best practicable control technology currently available, as defined by EPA regulations.

(14) "Bypass" means the intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of a treatment facility.

(15) "Calendar day" means the 24-hour period from midnight to midnight or any other 24-hour period that reasonably approximates the midnight to midnight time period.

(16) "CBOD5" means 5-day carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand.

(17) "Closure plan" means a description of the steps taken after a permittable activity has ceased to prevent contamination of surface waters from the inactive site.

(18) "Combined sewer overflow" or "CSO" means a discharge from a combined sewer system (CSS) at a point prior to the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) treatment plant headworks.

(19) "Combined sewer system" or "CSS" means a wastewater collection system owned by a State or municipality which was originally designed to convey sanitary wastewaters (domestic, commercial, and industrial wastewaters) and stormwater through a single-pipe system into a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) treatment plant headworks.

(20) "Commencement of construction" means the initial disturbance of soils associated with clearing, grading, or excavating activities or other construction activities.

(21) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Environment and Conservation or the Commissioner's duly authorized representative and, in the event of the Commissioner's absence or a vacancy in the office of Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner for Environment.

(22) "Composite sample" means a combination of not less than eight influent or effluent portions (aliquots), collected over a 24-hour period. Under certain circumstances a lesser time period may be allowed, but in no case less than eight hours. A sufficient volume of sample to perform all required analyses plus any additional amount for quality control must be obtained. For automatic samplers that use a peristaltic pump, a minimum 100ml aliquot must be obtained.

(23) "Concentrated animal feeding operation" or "CAFO" means an AFO that either meets the large (Class I) CAFO size criteria of paragraph (2) of Rule 0400-40-05-.14, the medium (Class II) CAFO criteria of paragraph (3) of Rule 0400-40-05-.14, or has otherwise been designated as a CAFO by the Director.

(24) "Construction" means any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment (including contractual obligations to purchase such facilities or equipment) at the premises where such equipment will be used, including preparation work at such premises.

(25) "Daily maximum amount" means the total amount of any pollutant in the discharge by weight during any calendar day.

(26) "Daily maximum concentration" means the average concentration, in units of mass per volume during any calendar day. When a proportional-to-flow composite sampling device is used, the daily concentration is the concentration of that 24-hour composite; when other sampling means are used, the daily concentration is the arithmetic mean of the concentrations of equal volume samples collected during any calendar day or sampling period.

(27) The meaning of "degradation" shall be the same as defined in Rule 0400-40-03-.04.

(28) "Department" means the Department of Environment and Conservation.

(29) "Director" means the director of the Division of Water Resources.

(30) "Discharge" or "discharge of a pollutant" refers to the addition of pollutants to waters from a source.

(31) "Division" means the Division of Water Resources.

(32) "Dry weather overflow" means a sanitary sewer overflow that is not directly related to a rainfall event.

(33) "Effluent limitation" means any restriction, established by the Board or the Commissioner, on quantities, discharge rates, or concentrations of chemical, physical, biological, or other constituents which are discharged into waters or adjacent to waters.

(34) "Fecal coliform" means fecal coliform bacteria, an indicator of pathogenic organisms.

(35) The "geometric mean" of any set of values means the nth root of the product of the individual values where n is equal to the number of individual values. The geometric mean is equivalent to the antilog of the arithmetic mean of the logarithms of the individual values. For the purposes of calculating the geometric mean, values of zero shall be considered to be one.

(36) "Grab sample" means a single sample collected at a particular time.

(37) "Hydrologic connection" means the interflow and exchange between surface impoundments or containment structures and groundwater or surface water through an underground corridor or pathway. In the context of this chapter, the purpose of prevention/reduction of hydrologic connection is to prevent/reduce groundwater flow contact resulting in the transfer of pollutants into groundwater.

(38) "IC25" means the inhibition concentration in which at least a 25% reduction in reproduction and/or growth in test organisms occurs.

(39) "Industrial discharger" means those industries identified in the standard industrial classification manual, Bureau of the Budget, 1987, as amended and supplemented, under the category "Division D - Manufacturing" and such other classes of significant waste producers as the Board or Commissioner deems appropriate.

(40) "Industrial wastes" means any liquid, solid, or gaseous substance, or combination thereof, or form of energy including heat, resulting from any process of industry, manufacture, trade, or business or from the development of any natural resource.

(41) "Instantaneous maximum concentration" means the concentration, in units of mass per volume, of any pollutant parameter in a grab sample taken at any point in time.

(42) "Instantaneous minimum concentration" means the minimum concentration, in units of mass per volume, of a pollutant parameter in a grab sample taken at any point in time.

(43) "Land application area" means the land under the control of an AFO owner or operator to which manure, litter, or process wastewater from the AFO production area is or may be applied.

(44) "Large CAFO" or "Class I CAFO" means an AFO that confines greater than or equal to the number of animals specified in TABLE 0400-40-05-.14.1.

(45) "LC50" means the concentration that causes at least 50% lethality of the test organisms.

(46) "Major facility" means a municipal or domestic wastewater treatment plant with a design capacity of one million gallons per day or greater; or any other facility or activity classified as such by the Commissioner.

(47) "Manure" includes manure, bedding, compost and raw materials or other materials comingled with manure or set aside for disposal.

(48) "Mature dairy cow" means a cow that has previously given birth to a calf.

(49) "Medium CAFO" or "Class II CAFO" means an AFO that falls within the size threshold for the animals specified in column 3 of TABLE 0400-40-05-.14.1 and also meets the criteria of paragraph (3) of Rule 0400-40-05-.14.

(50) "Minor facility" means any facility that is not a major facility.

(51) "Monthly average amount" means the arithmetic mean of all the measured daily samples by weight during the calendar month when the measurements were made.

(52) "Monthly average concentration" means the arithmetic mean of all samples collected in a one calendar-month period, expressed in units of mass per volume of any pollutant other than bacteria.

(53) "Multi-year phosphorus application" means phosphorus applied to a field in excess of crop needs and/or crop removal rates when there is no soil test recommendation for phosphorus and the Tennessee Phosphorus Index indicates manure, litter, or process wastewater should be applied at the crop phosphorus removal rate. Subsequent phosphorus application is prohibited until the applied phosphorus has been removed via harvest and/or crop removal or a subsequent soil test indicates phosphorus is required. Crop phosphorus removal rates are set by University of Tennessee Extension technical guidance documents for nutrient management.

(54) "Municipal separate storm sewer system" or "MS4" means a municipal separate storm sewer system as defined in the Clean Water Act, compiled in 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq., and the rules promulgated thereunder.

(55) "National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System" or "NPDES" means the national program for issuing, modifying, revoking and reissuing, terminating, monitoring and enforcing permits, and imposing and enforcing pretreatment requirements, under sections 307, 402, 318, and 405 of the federal CWA. The term includes an "approved program."

(56) "New or increased discharge" is a new discharge of pollutants to waters of the state or an increase in the authorized loading of a pollutant above either (1) numeric effluent limitations established in a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for that discharge, or (2) if no such limitations exist, the actual discharges of that pollutant.

(57) "New source" means any building, structure, facility, area, or installation from which there is or may be a "discharge of pollutants," the construction of which commenced after the publication of state or federal regulations prescribing a standard of performance.

(58) "Nitrate (as N)" means nitrate reported as nitrogen.

(59) "Non-contact cooling water" means cooling water that does not contact raw materials, materials being produced, finished product, by-products, or process wastewater. For some industrial categories, other, more specialized definitions related to non-contact cooling water may also apply.

(60) "Non-point source pollution" occurs when precipitation moves over and through the ground, picks up and carries away pollutants and deposits them into waters of the state.

(61) "One-hour average maximum" or "1-hour average maximum" means the concentration in units of mass per volume, of a composite consisting of any three equal volume grab samples collected consecutively at 30-minute intervals.

(62) "One week period" or "calendar-week" means the period from Sunday through Saturday. For reporting purposes, a calendar-week that contains a change of month shall be considered part of the latter month.

(63) "Owner or operator" means any person who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises a source.

(64) "Quarter" means any one of the following three-month periods: January 1 through March 31, April 1 through June 30, July 1 through September 30, and/or October 1 through December 31.

(65) "Permit" means an authorization, license, or equivalent control document issued by the Division of Water Resources which implements the requirements of the TWQCA.

(66) "Permit action" refers to the issuance, reissuance, revocation, denial, or modification of an individual permit.

(67) "Point source" means any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to, any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, landfill leachate collection system, vessel, or other floating craft from which pollutants are or may be discharged. This term does not include return flows from irrigated agriculture or agricultural stormwater runoff.

(68) "Person" means an individual, association, partnership, corporation, municipality, state or federal agency, or an agent or employee thereof.

(69) "Pollutant" means sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes.

(70) "Pollution" means such alteration of the physical, chemical, biological, bacteriological, or radiological properties of the waters of this state including, but not limited to, changes in temperature, taste, color, turbidity, or odor of the waters that will:

(71) "Process wastewater" for operations other than AFOs means any water which, during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results from the production or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, byproduct, or waste product.

(72) "Process wastewater" for AFOs means water directly or indirectly used in the operation of the AFO for any or all of the following: spillage or overflow from animal or poultry watering systems; washing, cleaning, or flushing pens, barns, manure pits, or other AFO facilities; direct contact swimming, washing, or spray cooling of animals; or dust control. Process wastewater also includes any water which comes into contact with any raw materials, products, or byproducts including manure, litter, feed, milk, eggs, or bedding.

(73) "Rainfall event" means any occurrence of rain, preceded by 10 hours without precipitation that results in an accumulation of 0.01 inches or more. Instances of rainfall occurring within 10 hours of each other will be considered a single rainfall event. For purposes of Rule 0 40040-05-.14, "rainfall event" also includes, a 10-year, 24-hour rainfall event, a 25-year, 24-hour rainfall event, and a 100-year, 24-hour rainfall event which are mean precipitation events with a probable recurrence interval of once in 10 years, or 25 years, or 100 years, respectively, as defined by the Precipitation-Frequency Atlas of the United States. Atlas 14. Volume 2. Version 3.0. U.S. Department of Commerce. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service, Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center, Silver Springs, Maryland or its digital product equivalent.

(74) "Rationale" or "fact sheet" means a document that is prepared when drafting an NPDES permit or permit action. It provides the technical, regulatory and administrative basis for an agency's permit decision.

(75) "Release" means the flow of sewage from any portion of the collection or transmission system owned or operated by a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) or a domestic wastewater treatment plant, other than through permitted outfalls, that does not reach waters. In addition, a "release" includes a backup into a building or private property that is caused by blockages, flow conditions, or other malfunctions originating in the collection or transmission system owned or operated by the permittee. A "release" does not include:

(76) "Sanitary sewer overflow" or "SSO" means an unpermitted discharge of wastewater from the collection or treatment system of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) or a domestic wastewater treatment plant other than through a permitted outfall.

(77) "Schedule of compliance" means a schedule of remedial measures including an enforceable sequence of actions or operations leading to compliance with an effluent limitation, condition of a permit, other limitation, prohibition, standard, or regulation. This term includes, but is not limited to, schedules authorized by national effluent limitations guidelines or by Tennessee's water quality standards.

(78) "Setback" means a specified distance from surface waters or potential conduits to surface waters where manure, litter, and process wastewater may not be land-applied. Examples of conduits to surface waters include but are not limited to: open tile line intake structures, sinkholes, and wells.

(79) "Severe property damage," when used to consider the allowance of a bypass, means substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities which causes them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources which can reasonably be expected to occur in the absence of a bypass. Severe property damage does not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.

(80) "Sewage" means water-carried waste or discharges from human beings or animals, from residences, public or private buildings, or industrial establishments, or boats, together with such other wastes and ground, surface, storm, or other water as may be present.

(81) "Sewerage system" means the conduits, sewers, and all devices and appurtenances by means of which sewage and other waste is collected, pumped, treated, or disposed.

(82) "Source" means any activity, operation, construction, building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is or may be the discharge of pollutants.

(83) "Standard of performance" means a standard for the control of the discharge of pollutants that reflects the greatest degree of effluent reduction that the Commissioner determines to be achievable through application of the best available demonstrated control technology, processes, operating methods, or other alternatives, including, where practicable, a standard permitting no discharge of pollutants.

(84) "Stormwater control measure" or "SCM" means permanent practices and measures designed to reduce the discharge of pollutants from new development projects or redevelopment projects.

(85) "Stream" means a surface water that is not a wet weather conveyance.

(86) "Total dissolved solids" or "TDS" means nonfilterable residue.

(87) "Toxic effluent limitation" means an effluent limitation on those pollutants or combinations of pollutants, including disease-causing agents, which after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will, on the basis of available information, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction) or physical deformations, in such organisms or their offspring.

(88) "Upset" means an exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with technology-based effluent limitations because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the permittee. An upset does not include noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error, improperly designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventive maintenance, or careless or improper operation.

(89) "USDA-NRCS" means the Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

(90) "Variance" means an authorization issued to a person by the Commissioner, which would allow that person to cause a water quality standard to be exceeded for a limited time period without changing the standard.

(91) "Vegetated buffer" means a narrow, permanent strip of dense perennial vegetation established parallel to the contours of and perpendicular to the dominant slope of the field for the purposes of slowing water runoff, enhancing water infiltration, and minimizing the risk of any potential nutrients or pollutants from leaving the field and reaching waters. A vegetated buffer may also be referred to as a "filter strip."

(92) The term "washout" is applicable to activated sludge plants and means a loss of mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) of 30.00% or more from the aeration basin(s).

(93) "Watercourse" means a man-made or natural hydrologic feature with a defined linear channel that discretely conveys flowing water, as opposed to sheet-flow.

(94) "Waters" means any and all water, public or private, on or beneath the surface of the ground, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon Tennessee or any portion thereof except those bodies of water confined to and retained within the limits of private property in single ownership which do not combine or effect a junction with natural surface or underground waters.

(95) "Water quality riparian buffer" means a permanent strip of natural perennial vegetation adjacent to a stream, river, wetland, pond, or lake that contains dense vegetation made up of grass, shrubs, and/or trees. The purpose of a water quality riparian buffer is to maintain existing water quality by minimizing the risk of any potential sediments, nutrients, or other pollutants reaching adjacent surface waters and to further prevent negative water quality impacts by providing canopy over adjacent waters.

(96) "Weekly average amount" means the arithmetic mean of all the measured daily discharges by weight during the calendar week when the measurements were made.

(97) "Weekly average concentration" means the arithmetic mean of all the concentrations expressed in units of mass per volume of any pollutant measured in a calendar week.

(98) "Wet weather conveyance" means, notwithstanding any other law or rule to the contrary, man-made or natural watercourses, including natural watercourses that have been modified by channelization:

(99) "Wet weather overflow" means a sanitary sewer overflow that is directly related to a specific rainfall event.

(100) "Wet weather release" means a release that is directly related to a specific rainfall event.